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Introduction: A Seer's Truth
"At the dawn of time, nothing but desolate blackness marked the universe. This is one of the few things the many religions of the world can agree upon -- there must have been nothing, so very long ago. Before anyone could have ever imagined. Before even the gods themselves drew breath, as many claim." The old seer, his eyes the shade of the night sky, stared with a blinded gaze at you. The soulless blue flames of his fire eerily illuminating his bearded, scarred face, he grinned at you. "But you aren't interested in hearing the tall tales of the priests and the clerics.. You are interested in the truth. I can tell. Very well, I will explain. Indeed, the darkness that permeates so much of our universe was all there ever was to see, for aeons innumerable.." You gazed into the flickering blue light of the eldritch fire, and soon you felt all the vision fading from your eyes. Your sight replaced with nothing but an empty void, you beheld what existed before creation. As a passive observer, you felt.. helpless. Indeed, it was as though your being had been severed from existence entirely. That struck true fear into your heart, for the briefest of moments. Until, of course, you heard a voice. It was not the voice of the seer, but of something else. Something.. supreme. A divine chant was called, and blinding light surged through the void around you. Angels -- beings of pure holiness -- made their way to all corners of the void, doing battle with unfathomable forces of darkness. At some point, you felt yourself drawn back to consciousness and came face-to-face with the blind warlock. He once again flashed an unsettling grin, and continued. "The Prayerkeep. A supreme being, far detached from the whims and wants of mortals and gods alike. He is to the gods as the gods are to animals. Long ago, his voice called all things into creation. It began with light -- the purest of essences. This coalesced into the Celestial Plane, to which so many of us aspire. His forces did battle with the unfathomable.. nothingness that is the Void. Many of the angels -- beings composed of this celestial essence -- found their minds twisted and warped by the madness these eldritch horrors inflicted upon them." You blacked out once again, and as your vision faded you saw motes of light, one after the other, plummeting from the grace of the Prayerkeep and into the darkness of the Void. They were snuffed out like candles, one by one. What followed was what seemed an eternity of painful silence before flames erupted from the bottom of your view. They pillared forth, engulfing many more angels as they fought the Void's foul beasts. "The Voidspawn had created the Infernal Plane," mused the seer as your eyes flickered open once more, your terrified gaze drawing a swift giggle out of the madman. "More or less. As the angels created by the Prayerkeep fell from the grace of the Celestial Plane, they forgot their former selves. They were.. foul, now. Demons, as we'd call them. Possessed of nothing but hatred and mischief, they sought now to undo the works of creation. Not that they knew why.." he trailed off into deliberation, but before you could hear it, you fainted once more. It seemed to be over. The war between the Void and the Prayerkeep had at least ground to a stalemate, as now the forces of righteousness fought across the endless breadth of the universe with the newly-forged Demons. With his enemies subdued for the moment, the Prayerkeep continued to speak in a celestial voice incomprehensible to your mortal ears. However, what could be processed by your senses was what unfolded before you. Between the fires of the Inferno and the ever-glowing light of the Celestial Plane, several more.. things, sprung into existence. Within the centre of the void, you saw tiny individual lights flare up into existence. Balls of fire, stars. Around these stars, world after world formed and each was seeded with life.. The seer cackled aloud. "The Material Plane, the Arcanum, and the Spirit Realm. These were the first to be created after the wars with the Demons. However, mortals themselves seemed to be influenced by the cosmic goings on! In fact.." you found yourself deafened, unable to hear the maddened words of the seer any longer. Why had you bothered to see this madman? Surely, it's too late to turn back. As you slip out of consciousness again, gods only know how many times now, your eyes behold the thoughts of every mortal who has ever existed. Humans, Elves, Dwarves, Orcs.. it matters not. You see every last dream take form between the Celestial Plane and the Material Plane, coalescing into a plane of its own. A Dream Realm. However, it seems that the Demons defeated so long ago by the forces of the Prayerkeep have done their part to subvert creation. Every foul thought, every twisted dream and every last night terror any mortal has ever lived through was siphoned by the Infernal powers, coalescing into a plane of nightmares and shadows -- a dark place, terrifying to gaze upon even from the outside. No longer could you hear the babbling and chanting of the seer, as your now-blinded eyes have seen the truth of it all. The gods are machinations dreamt up by men, their very thoughts bringing them to life in the Celestial Plane. The Prayerkeep's lone function in the universe he has left behind is to ensure his creations' prayers are heard. If not by a god already existing, then by one they would dream up themselves. Explains the name.. Demons are not the true enemies of all that is holy.. no, nothingness is what the creator holds to be true anathema. All existence is to stand against nothingness -- the single purpose everyone seeks. How.. profound. All that is asked of anyone is that they exist. Truly, it puts things into perspective. For you, anyway. It's not as though anybody else will ever hear your maddened words. Not now, as the hangman ties tight the slipknot that will end your life. "For the crimes of witchcraft and blasphemy, you are hereby sentenced to die by hanging." As the floor gives from underneath you, you frown. Certainly, no longer will your pitch black eyes be haunted by the visions. It's all over. Yet you've failed your one purpose..